Gold recovery device



July 9, 1935. M D. EAST 2,007,158

GOLD RECOVERY DEVICE Filled Jan. 16, 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet l /I l l x I INVENTOR 8 .375.5/ imo fg@ Il 2h51 l MTM ATTORNEYS July 9, 1935. M D, EAST 2,007,158

n l GOLD RECOVERY DEVICE Filed Jan. 16, 1934 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 m@ 'Na ATTORNEYS Patented July 9, 1935 PATENT OFFICE GOLD RECOVERY DEVICE Y Mose East, Seattle, Wash.

Application `January 16,

l (Cl. 209-208) 5 claims.

1 Mypresent invention relates to the art of suctiondredges and kmore particularly to a dredge which because of its peculiar constructionis particularly adapted as a gold recovery'dredge.

5. 1 Dredging for gold is'one of the earliest forms of. goldl mining and is quite -well developed. However,fthere are many instances Where existing equipment .cannot be successfully used. This is particularly true indeep or fast running wateror Wherethebottom of `a stream is so rough and rocky .that Ordinar-y types of dredges cannot removethe gold bearing sand and `gravel from the seams,..cracks and depressions under the Water. Mypresent v,machine has beenprovided to supply a solution for problems ofthis character. Y

The Vprincipal l.objectof lmy invention is to'providea 'light `portable machine which lends itself of goid will:=be.lifted that normally would floatdownwaidlythru. the ascending stream of rwater and to further provide. that the pump need not handle the sand and'gravel picked up.

' A further .objectof my present invention is to provide in combination with such a machine a .suction nozzle arrangement so constructed that recoveries can .be lmade from small depressions, ,crei/ieee :and 'the like and at the same time the device cannot be' plugged byva singlerock.` i @ther and more specic objects willbe apparent from the fol-lowing fdeseription taken in connection 1 withffthe ,accompanying drawings,

wherein f v f l iFigurewl is'a `.top plan View of a dredge built afterithewteachings .of my invention. Figure 2 is a side elevation in section taken along the line 2-2 .of'Fig-.ure l." Figure 3 is a top plan View of a portion .of `Figure 1 'but showing a different connection of the water pump and collecting chambers r .as-it is used `in makingthe clean up ofthe dredge.

maure-'-4 is a vertical sectional viewY thru the vacuum `.tank and collecting chamber illustrating the. normal .lflow Whenithe machine is makinga suction lift.` :Figurejisafragmentary sectional MioWthrutheiend of `my suction nozzle.

.. 1`iReffrnlng to the drawings, `.throughout which like `reference.characters indicate like parts, numerls `:Band 9 ,designa-tethevsettling chambers .ofmytdeyice of which .there should not `be less 1,934, Serial N0. 706,889

is a matter of individual design but by virtue of the fact that considerable negative pressure .is created Withinthe tanks it is found most desirable to use boiler like construction having the belledout top and bottom illustrated and preferably having reasonable height with respect to their diameter as this relationship facilitates the separation. In the present design I have illustrated the two'settling chambers S and 9 as being both connected to a single vacuum 'tank It), the connections being each provided with shut-off valves l 2 so that tank l0 may be connected, atwill, with eitherof the two tanks or with both at the same time if desired. An intake from the suction nozzle is provided near the top of leach of the settling chambers andas a. matter of convenience I provide that thetwo inlets as I4 and I5be led to a Siamese fitting i5 which is connected to the suction line I8 which leads in turnrto the suction nozzle 2S. I further provide each ofthe inlet openings i4 and l5 with shut-olf valves as 22 and 24 respectively. e f

Abouthalf Way up on tanks 8 and 9 I provide suction outlets as 26 and 28. ,These two outlets are led to a common Siamese fitting 3B which in turn. is connected to the suction side of a Water pump 3Q. Shut-01T valves for the suction outlets 26 and 28 are indicated at 34 and 3%.` I have fur- ,ther provided ati a T fitting in the-pump suction line 4d and haveprovided a shut-oil valve y47:1 so that a different arrangement of piping may be provided as is illustrated in Figure 3. f A dis.- charge line, preferably a hose, is provided for the Water pump as 44. `Water pump 33 may be driven-from any suitable source of powersuch as the gasoline engine i6 illustrates. Inasmuch however as it may Ynot be desirablefto operate the water pump at all times it is provided with a friction clutch 48 so that the Water pump may be disengaged from the power supply.

Further, a vacuum pump 55 is connected to the motor 46. A suction line v52 leads'from vacnum pump Seto tank l0. y

As a means for maneuvering my device I have provided the transversely disposed shaft 54 having a plurality of cable drums thereon as 55 and `56. Shaft 54 is optionally connected thru suitable gearing and the clutch 58 to the motor 46.

Method of operation `In operating my device lthe prime mover as the motord is started. This drives the vacuum pump 50 which thru its connecting piping exhausts the air from tank land from either .of `thesettlingchambers 8 or vildepending-on which pipe 60.

one it is connected to. When a reasonable amount of vacuum is produced in the system the Water pump 32 is then engaged and a flow of material started after the showing of Figure 4. It of course will be understood that in order to build up vacuum within the system it will be necessary that either the nozzle 20 be submerged or the suction shut-01T valve be closed.

The construction of the suction nozzle Will probably best be understood from Figure 5 in which a piece of pipe 60 is employed which should be longer than the depth of water the device will be used in. The most satisfactory means of directing the nozzle is by a-n operator on the surface of the water. A suction hose as I8 is provided to connect pipe 60 to the settling chambers. Now, it has often been found that rock would obstruct the relatively small nozzle opening and to prevent this I have provided a plurality of downwardly and inwardly extending fingers as 62. These I prefer to grip as by the set collar 64 and to have them guided by the flange 66. Compression springs are employed around each of the fingers 62 and disposed between flange 66 and collar 64. II'hese are illustrated at 68. Now, normally in use the operator presses down on pipe 60 to such an extent that the fingers 62 are imbedded in notches 10, cut in the end of Then as he twists the pipe around to loosen up the gravel, fingers 62 tend to agitate the surface immediately adjacent the suction stream so that the finer gold and sand are disturbed and made more easily liftable. If, however, a rock becomes lodged over the end of the tube 60 the operator need merely to lift up on the tube and the compression springs 68 will push the fingers outwardly to about the position shown in Figure 5. This will hold the obstructing rock away from the end of the nozzle and the large area between the end of the nozzle and the stone would be such that the suction would be broken on the blocking stone and the same released.

Referring now to Figure 4 the stream of material incoming thru hose I8 is deposited in the settling chamber. The larger stones, the heavier gravel and sa-nd together with the larger particles of gold will settle into the bottom of the settling chamber. The lighter materials will be drawn off thru the suction outletpipes as 26 or 28. This material will be passed out thru the discharge 44 and will be further separated in riles, sluices or other desirable separation means. One of the important features of my i present equipment is the velocity obtained in intake I8. This is greater than can be accomplished normally by a suction water pump by virtue of the fact that the vacuum pump 50 is adding to that lift. Further, in order that the water pump will not Work against itself I have provided a connection I2 which connects the vacuum tank Il! to the suction side of the water pump. The height of water in the settling chamber can be determined at all times by the water gauge glasses 'I4 and 15. This also gives an index as to when the sand has risen too high within a settling chamber. At this time the settling chamber being used is shut-off and its companion chamber used. The settling chamber which has been used must then be cleaned. This is accomplished by means of the discharge outlet I6 which is closed by valve 18 and the hand hole plate 80. If additional water is required in the system it can be supplied by using a suction line as 82 attached torvalve 42 in the Water pump line 40 and connecting the normal discharge pipe 44 to the Siamese tting I6 in place of the normal suction hose I8. When this is being so used, however, it will be necessary that valves 34 and 36 be closed.

One feature of this construction, which it is believed will be apparent, is that of not passing thru water pump 32 any of the large scouring materials, it being so arranged so that the heavier materials are deposited in the lower half of the settling tank and when they have accumulated to a point where they would normally be drawn thru the water pump the alternate tank is to be used. The use of the alternate tank saves a great deal of time as in so many instances the heavier material will be held in suspension for some time and by having two tanks for alternate use the settling can be carried on so that the cleaning out of the settling chambers can be de ferred for quite a period of operation.

Vacuum tank I0 has been provided, together with gauge glass 14, so that the operator of the dredge will have ample warning of the raising of the water level in the settling tank and further, should there be a failure of the water pump the capacity of tank I0 should be sufilcient so that the operator will have ample time to shut valve I2 and thus prevent any water or sand being taken into the vacuum pump 50. nection it should be understood that the type of pump most suitable for creating the vacuum, in a dredge of this type, is one of light weight. This in turn necessitates high speed and delicate internal construction for the pump so that any solid material, even water, entering the pump might cause its destruction. Tank III should therefore be preferably mounted well above the normal water level of the settling tanks and the outlet pipe 52 should be taken off the upper-most part of tank 10 to further insure pump 50 against damage.

The foregoing description and the accompanying drawings are believed to clearly disclose a preferred embodiment of my invention but it will be understood that this disclosure is merely illustrative and that such changes in the invention may be made as are fairly within the scope and spirit of the following claims.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:-

1. In a dredging apparatus, the combination with a closed tank forming a settling chamber, of a vacuum tank located above the tank and communicating directly therewith above the settling chamber, means for controlling communication between said tanks, a vacuum pump connected with the vacuum tank, an intake pipe connected with the upper portion of the settling tank, a submerged nozzle at the free end of the intake pipe, a normally closed draw-off pipe at the bottom of the settling chamber, and a suction-outlet pipe connected to the settling chamber between the intake pipe and the drawoff pipe.

2. In a dredging apparatus, the combination with a pair of closed, separate, tanks forming settling chambers and a vacuum tank located above and directly communicating with both settling chambers, of an intake pipe having a Y-connection with said settling chambers and means for controlling flow of material through said Y-connection to the chambers, a submerged nozzle at the free end of the intake pipe, a drawoi pipe at the bottom of each settling chamber and a control valve in each pipe, a suction-pump In this con-4 and a suction outlet-pipe connected to said settling chambers intermediate theintake and drawoff pipes, and a vacuum pump connected with said vacuum tank. Y

3. In a dredging apparatus, `the combination with a tank forming a settling chamber, a vacuum tank located above and communicating with the rst tank above its settling chamber means for controlling communication between said tanks, and a vacuum pump connected with the vacuum tank, of an intake pipe having a submerged nozzle and connected with the upper part ofthe settling tank, a draw-off pipe connected to the lower part of the settling tank,`

a water gauge connected with the settling tank below the intake pipe, a water-pump, and a suction outlet-pipe connecting said pump with the settling tank intermediate the intake pipe and the draw-off pipe.

4. In a dredging apparatus, the combination with a settling tank and a vacuum tank, a pipe connecting said tanks and a control valve in said pipe, of a motona water pump and driving means between said motor and pump, a suctionHoutlet-pipe connecting said pumpand the settling tank, a vacuum pump and driving means between said motor and the vacuum pump, a vacuum pipe connecting the vacuum pump and the vacuum tank, and a clutch device included in the driving means between the motor and the water pump.

5. In a dredging apparatus, the combination with a pair of settling tanks forming separate chambers and a vacuum tank located above and. connected with said tanks above said chambers, of an intake-pipe having a connection with each settling tank, a draw-off pipe at the bottom of each settling tank and a valve for each pipe, a valve for controlling communication of the intake pipe withA each settling chamber, a Water pump and `a water pipe from said pump cornmunicating with each settling chamber intermediate the intake pipes and the draw-off pipes, a valve for controlling exit of water through each water pipe, and a water connection between said pump and the intake pipe.

MOSE D. EAST. 

